To retain their civil, constitutional, and privacy rights in the future, Americans will need to stay well-informed and politically engaged. Why? Big Media companies have hidden interests that cause anti-democratic bias in their news coverage and editorial positions. Big Telecoms want to control the Internet and information access. Politicians and corporations want to shape public perceptions to their own advantage. And the list goes on...

Monday, February 19, 2007

How much coverage do you think this poll will get? It's a week since this poll was released and I haven't seen it referenced once. If you see it on any major news outlet, please add a comment about it. /DJ

What Americans really think of Bush

Twice a year, pollsters for the Pew Research Center ask Americans to say the "one word that best describes" their "impression of George W. Bush." As late as February 2005, the top two volunteered responses were "honest" and "good." The new top two: "incompetent" and "arrogant."

"Honest" has fallen to No. 3. Rounding out the top 10: "good," "idiot," "integ rity," "leader," "strong," "stupid" and "ignorant." "Ass" checks in at No. 13, "president" sits at No. 18, and "unconfident" brings up the rear at No. 32.

Friday, February 9, 2007

Here's my debut report on the hypocrisy of the Media Barons! How nice that it broke just when I'm launching my blog and need a highly visible example of the reasons for my concern about the motives of those who provide our news.

In several recent international reports Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox News, admitted publicly that Fox News had tried to "gin up" the American public to support the Iraq war. Though he maintains that their efforts failed, and they have been increasingly skeptical in their coverage, everyone in America knows that Fox News has been a major public cheerleader for the war. Unfortunately, his actions, though despicable, can not be prosecuted.

Seeing Murdoch blithely admit this on video is startling, and worth seeing. I saw it on Countdown with Keith Olberman and then again on his site. Click on the link button above to MSNBC.com, then on the show, Countdown With Keith Olberman, and then click on "The Fox War Machine." You'll see Rupert Murdoch admit that Fox News tried to "gin up the American public to support the war." Otherwise, search Google or YouTube for video of Rupert Murdoch.

Welcome to NewsHacker. Everyone is welcome to to participate in building this discussion, which I consider one of the most important and least understood public democracy issues.

It seems that the American public pays little attention to where their news comes from and whether the reporter or organization has an unspoken agenda. I want to change that. I want Americans, and people everywhere, to be more attentive and attuned to the motives of our news providers. American news outlets, whether TV or radio or newspapers, shape public perceptions of the health and fairness of our society, and the effectiveness of our government representatives and their policies, by selecting the stories they will cover. If news breaks they would rather not cover, they minimize coverage, adopt a disapproving tone and ask skeptical questions.

If more Americans would think like "citizen journalists" and blog about their questions, the better the information available to society would be.

NewsHacker

I've been an electronic media consultant and futurist, and an observer of the continuing media revolution for over 20 years, and a computer geek for over 40. I believe preserving Network Neutrality and growing the Media Reform movement will be crucial to preserving all Americans' rights and freedoms in the digital future.

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